Vera Scroggins

September 15, 2016/Ryan Clover

“Welcome to Halt the Harm Podcast, I’m your host Ryan Clover. In this episode, award winning environmental activist Vera Scroggins joins us from Pennsylvania to share her perspective on fighting fossil fuel development – even though it’s sometimes uncomfortable or risky.

Vera has been documenting violations of the fracking industry and leading tours to show first hand the impacts fracking is having in Pennsylvania. As a result, she’s become a target of industry intimidation, but she remains strong at heart. In this interview Vera shares her background, and what inspires her to take action despite the challenges she’s faced.”

Bio:

Vera Scroggins has documented violations and exposed much of the gas industry malpractice and has been banned from 312.5 square miles of Pennsylvania. This includes the county hospital, local restaurants, supermarkets and drug stores, the animal shelter, the bowling alley, even the lake shore. The ban represents one of the most extreme measures taken by the oil and gas industry against protesters. A Montrose County courthouse granted Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation an injunction barring Scroggins from all property owned or leased by the company. This amounts to two hundred thousand acres of land, and nearly 40% of the county where Scroggins lives.

What we talked about :

In this interview Vera Scroggins talks about where she grew up, and how she became active in environmental issues. For her, it’s just as much about defending the land as it is our rights to free speech and basic health.

As mentioned in her biography above, Vera’s lost her mobility in public places – she’s been banned from nearly 40% of her county. She says this is a corporate takeover – and she’s experiencing it first hand. Instead of protecting the people, various parts of the U.S. government are protecting the interests of the gas industry.

Vera challenges us to take action, despite the short-term risks. The greater risk is doing nothing, and facing the impacts of the gas industry – climate change, water contamination,